Tech firm to create jobs after acquisition
A Newcastle tech company is set to create 100 jobs after being acquired in a multi-million-pound deal by a US company.
Refract has been snapped up in an eight-figure deal by Boston-based Allego, taking forward a successful working relationship which formally started a year ago.
Based at The Core at Newcastle Helix, Refract’s software helps organisations improve the performance of their sales teams, giving managers insight into team members’ conversations and helping them understand what top performers do differently and identify missed opportunities.
The firm was established in 2015 by Kevin Beales, who was previously chief executive of The Test Factory, an online assessment platform which was sold to GL Education Group in 2014.
Mr Beales said the significant deal will see huge growth in the 23-strong business, likely triggering a search for a new base to accommodate its growing workforce as it becomes the headquarters for Allego’s European operations.
Allego said the deal will strengthen its sales engagement capabilities, to power post-pandemic sales professionals who must succeed in virtual selling.
The firm’s chief executive and cofounder is Yuchun Lee, one of the six students who provided the inspiration for the movie 21, in which a group is trained to count cards to win money.
Mr Beales said: “Yuchun was one of the group of students who flew from Boston to Vegas to legally fleece the casinos – so he’s banned from every casino in Nevada.”
“We got to know Yuchun and Allego about two years ago and started working with them about one year ago.
“Our technology is used by some of Allego’s customers and it’s become a much bigger opportunity.
“If we put together our solutions, teams and talent we knew there was a real opportunity in the sales engagement space.
“We have some really exciting plans going forward, including the creation of 100 jobs in Newcastle over the next two years.
“We have been based at The Core but since the pandemic we have been working more remotely. We might relocate somewhere else as part of our plans. All of us are staying on, too – we’re all totally committed to the next chapter in our journey.
“This has come from having a great relationship and being excited about what we can do together.”
Allego CEO Mr Lee said: “We’ve had the opportunity to get to know the Refract team over the last year and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome this impressive group to the Allego family.
“In addition to bringing powerful new tech to the Allego platform, the Refract team expands our presence in the UK, serving as our new European headquarters with a full complement of talent across engineering, sales, marketing, and customer success to help drive the company’s global expansion.
“This is a powerful union that will bring more value to our joint customers and add rocket fuel to our vision for virtual sales learning, enablement and engagement.”